


Then Comes Another

by whitecrossgirl



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 16:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20474402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitecrossgirl/pseuds/whitecrossgirl
Summary: "Queen you shall become and queen you shall be; until comes another: younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold near."Prophecies are rarely as clear as they seem and when Cersei realises that Brienne could be a threat to her, she tries to eliminate the threat by any means necessary. It's up to Jaime to do the impossible to try and save her. Snow White AU-esque





	Then Comes Another

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking about the whole prophecy thing and how it could have been adapted to mean Brienne was the one it was about. Part of me wanted to write a serious piece about Cersei’s descent into madness and seeking to destroy Brienne. Then the other part of me said “screw it; write a cheesy Snow White AU” so nearly 4000 words later here we are. Enjoy, I guess.

Queen you shall be until comes another,  
Younger, more beautiful, to cast you down  
And take all that you hold dear

Those were the words that had haunted her since that fateful night. She knew she would be Queen and that someday, some upstart harlot would try to steal her throne from her. She had always expected that it would be some simpering maiden like Sansa Stark or a scheming whore like Margaery Tyrell; who would convince themselves that marrying her son would assist them in snatching her throne. She had not expected this.

She had realised too late; that even back then, she had already been a queen. She had been Jaime’s queen. He had adored her, worshipped her, treated her like the Queen she had been destined to become. He had even used it as her nickname; my queen. He used it when they had played as small children with Tyrion toddling behind them like the unwanted nuisance he was. He used it as a teasing insult if he was annoyed at her or if she made him do something he didn’t want to do. He used it the first time they had been together. She was his Queen. He was sworn to her and only her. There had never been another woman in his life; she had made sure of that. The whore Melara had been strangled and dumped in a well; the little dolt had been so convinced that she would marry Jaime. How wrong she was.

Melara had been her first example of a potential fulfiller of the prophecy. She had been beautiful, a kind, comely face, long brown hair, a sweet simpering voice. A perfect little lady who could be courteous and sing songs and be the perfect lady for her brother’s arm. Of course she had to go. However Melara had been her example for the sort of woman who would pose a threat. Cersei had expected the woman to be in that mould; a typical lady with exceptional beauty to appear more beautiful than her.

This hadn’t been what she had had in mind. The great lumbering beast who Jaime had dragged back to Kings Landing with him. Brienne the Beauty, the world had dubbed her and not in the kindest of ways. Cersei had almost wanted to laugh at the sight of her, extraordinarily tall; broad shoulders, lumbering in armour or men’s clothing, the gods had been cruel when they gave her beauty to some milkmaid somewhere. She wanted to laugh but then she spotted how Jaime looked at her. Like she was the Maiden made flesh. Like she had hung the moon and the stars. Like she was the only woman in the world.

Jaime only ever looked at her like that before.

That had been Cersei’s warning sign and she realised that Brienne the Beauty was a potential threat. She had taken to observing her personally whenever she could. Usually wherever the beast was, Jaime was never too far behind. He rarely spent time with her anymore and when they were together, he seemed almost repulsed by her and their relationship. That had to be Brienne’s control over Jaime. All of his attentions, focus and dare she think, devotion, seemed to be aimed at Brienne the Beast.

None of it made sense. Not until she considered the words of the prophecy again. Prophecies were never expressed clearly; there was always a twist or a hidden meaning to the words. Brienne of Tarth was as much referred to as a Beauty as Cersei was herself; albeit mockingly. She was younger than Cersei too and it seemed like she had Jaime in the palm of her hand. Wherever she went, Jaime followed. Whatever she did, Jaime mimicked. Whatever she said, Jaime agreed with. He was completely under Brienne’s control.

And Cersei loathed her for it.

If it was true, if Brienne was the one foretold of; then she would have to do what she always did to a threat; eliminate it. Cersei walked to her window and looked into the gardens below. Jaime was standing below a tall tree with Tommen beside him, both of them were looking up into the branches above them, which shook and swayed as Brienne climbed up them like the wild animal she was.

“I’ve got him,” Brienne said as she gently picked up the cat with one hand, using the other to keep her grip on the trunk. Ser Pounce was Prince Tommen’s favourite cat and had managed to get itself stuck in the tree. Brienne had spent her childhood climbing trees, scrambling over cliffs and causeways and so had pulled herself into the branches with ease. As she climbed back down, she stopped on one of the sturdy lower branches and reached down. She was close enough for Jaime to reach the cat and pass it to Tommen but still high enough to indulge her childish love for climbing trees and being high off the ground.

“Thank you, Lady Brienne,” Tommen said with a genuine smile. He had liked the lady warrior who had returned his uncle to the capital. She was kind, clever, considerate and brave. Even though she was a woman, if he ever became King, he would knight her. Or he would let her and Uncle Jaime get married; they were clearly in love with each other and Grandfather had said how he was trying to arrange a marriage for all of the family, including Uncle Jaime.

“It was nothing, Your Grace,” Brienne replied as Tommen walked off, carrying Ser Pounce in his arms. As soon as he was out of earshot, she smiled at Jaime. “He’s a sweet boy.”

“Unlike the rest of us?” Jaime teased and Brienne shrugged her shoulders.

“You said it, not me.” Brienne replied and Jaime grinned. “What?”

“You never speak like that, you almost sounded like me.” Jaime said as Brienne grabbed an apple from the tree and tossed it at him, hitting his shoulder. “Now, now, there’s no need for that.”

“You started it.” Brienne said as she picked herself an apple and bit into it. “How is your training coming?”

“Terrible but as long as I’m better than everyone else, it doesn’t matter.” Jaime said, glaring at the useless lump of metal attached to his stump. A hook would have been more useful or even a wooden hand. This was gaudy, ostentatious, arrogant; his family all over.

“I beat you,” Brienne reminded. “That was before you lost your hand.”

“I had also been a captive for quite some time then, not being able to practice has that effect.” Jaime retorted as Brienne smiled. “What?”

“That sounds like someone making up an excuse.” Brienne said almost playfully. Jaime liked this side of her; the side that she always seemed to hide away from the world. Whether it was just how she was raised or a lack of confidence, Jaime wasn’t sure but he wished that he could help her bring that side of her out of her shell.

“It’s true. Had I been at my full strength with both my hands, I would have won.” Jaime claimed as Brienne smiled at him. He loved that smile; it was never forced or false and it seemed to light up her whole face and made her eyes shine. He had known that he had been falling for her throughout their journey to Kings Landing; they had built that trust and friendship and for Jaime, it had evolved into something more. He knew that the feelings he had for Brienne went beyond friendship but he also knew that she only had platonic feelings for him and he didn’t want to push her into anything that made her uncomfortable.

“If you say so,” Brienne said as she looked from the branch to the ground. Brienne bit into the apple, clamping it between her teeth so that she could hold onto the branch and control her jump to the ground. As she straightened herself up and removed the apple from the ground, she noticed the strange expression on Jaime’s face. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Jaime replied quickly. I love you. “Are you seeing Lady Sansa today?”

“I am, I should go.” Brienne said; she wasn’t sure why but there seemed to be a shift between her and Jaime within the past few moments. She couldn’t put her finger on it but it was a strange feeling between them. Jaime was her closest friend but this didn’t feel like friendship right now. She would give it some thought later but for now, she would visit Lady Sansa. The poor girl was still struggling with the loss of her mother and brother. Any support Brienne could give her would hopefully help the poor child.

As Brienne walked out of the gardens, Jaime could feel the foolish smile that was crossing his face. He had never felt like this before. Brienne seemed to be in all his thoughts, he always seemed to be thinking about her, wanting to spend time with her. When they were together, he wanted to take her hand, hold her close, to kiss her. He had felt lust before. He had felt familial love. Those two had been dangerously crossed with Cersei in the past where the combination and the knowledge it was wrong had strengthened it.

How he felt with Brienne just felt so right. It felt as if this was how things meant to be. It was as if all the stories, all the songs, made sense. Jaime wasn’t sure how to proceed. Should he tell Brienne how he felt? Would he give her gifts? Would she believe him? Would she think that he was mocking her or even worse; would she think he was a fool and laugh at him? If she rejected his feelings, he would accept it and understand. But if she didn’t think they were real; it would devastate him.

Finally, Jaime dragged himself back to reality as Bronn gave a sharp whistle and held out his sword. Jaime forced the smile from his face, the last thing he wanted was to give Bronn another reason to mock him. Not about Brienne. Never about Brienne. As Jaime walked across the gardens, he didn’t see Cersei step away from her window and stormed across the room; snapping at her handmaidens to leave her alone as she did. She could see what Jaime didn’t want her to see. He thought himself to be in love with the beast. As she stormed through the Red Keep; the words she had heard from Maggy the Frog began to echo in her head.

Queen you shall be until comes another,  
Younger, more beautiful, to cast you down  
And take all that you hold dear

Cersei knew how to deal with a problem. She had useful people; people who would do what she asked, no questions asked. However, the beast was a bigger threat; Jaime rarely left her side and she knew that the beast would be able to handle almost anyone in a fight. She also had to be clever about it; as much as she loathed the Beast; the Beast was from a noble family; a small house, but still a noble family. She couldn’t have her murdered outright but an accident… accidents can easily be arranged.

Cersei had found Qyburn to be a strange man, but a clever one. One who knew a lot about sciences and blood magic and experiments. She wanted something specific. One that would eliminate the beast but also test Jaime. This would be his test; who did he truly love? Her or the beast? She had to marvel at the man’s ability to create such a toxin that matched what she needed. It had initially been only a rumour, one that had existed only in children’s stories but had actually existed. It was rare and the cure was even rarer. Hence why it would be the perfect test for Jaime. It took a few days but it was finally ready.

A poison that would be coated over the skin of an apple; one of the apples from the tree that Jaime and Brienne had been talking in and around outside Cersei’s window. A fitting touch; it was where Jaime had betrayed her after all. Cersei coated the apple in the poison, seeping it enough so the poison could sink under the skin and infect the fruit inside. She clutched it carefully by the stem and carefully made her way to Brienne’s chamber. One way or another, it would end today.

Cersei entered Brienne’s chamber, content that it was empty. She looked around the sparsely decorated room. Surely the beast would have been more comfortable in the stable. It was then that she spotted the piece of blue fabric that had been folded on the table. Cersei examined the gift and scoffed. A shawl. There was no shawl large enough for the beast to drape over her shoulders. A quilt would have been a better gift. Although, she had to admit, it was a beautiful shawl; an attractive shade of deep, royal blue and made of Myrish lace. That was expensive. The thought of Jaime, her Jaime, spending so much money on attempting to turn the beast into a beauty; one more beautiful than her; that Cersei snatched up the shawl. In its place, she left the apple; scarlet, shining, appealing for anyone to take a bite.

Cersei cleaned her hands and draped the shawl around her shoulders and hid herself behind the dressing screen, waiting for her plan to play out. She didn’t have to wait long. It took little time for Brienne to return to her chamber.

Brienne rubbed her shoulder as she entered her chamber. She had spent the afternoon training with Jaime and Tyrion’s sellsword Bronn. It had been good to keep training and practising and with Bronn being a sellsword; he didn’t always fight with the same honour that most men she fought with did. She had also made sure to keep an eye on Sansa Stark and that she was being treated well by Tyrion. She could see a lot of Lady Catelyn’s strength in her daughter and if she could protect one of the Stark girls, then she and Jaime would have kept their word. Brienne rested her sword against the table and spotted the apple resting on top with an untidily scribbled note next to it.

A gift for you – Jaime

Brienne smiled at the apple, wondering if it came from the same tree that she had climbed the other day. She was still trying to work out the strange shift in Jaime’s behaviour. Part of her dared to think that maybe he did feel something more than friendship towards her; even though it was a reckless idea. No man would ever fall in love with her; Jaime could have any beautiful lady, why would he have feelings for her. Brienne dismissed the thought as she turned the apple over in her hands before she bit into the apple. The skin snapped under her teeth and the fruit was ripe with the sweet juice slipping over her tongue. The apples tasted so good that as the bite slipped down her throat, it could have made her weak at the knees.

In fact, it did make her weak at the knees.

Brienne felt her legs give way, her head was spinning as her throat began to constrict, preventing her from breathing. She tried to stick her fingers down her throat to induce vomiting but her arms felt like lead weights and she couldn’t lift them. Her vision was swimming as she gasped for air. As she looked up, she saw a flash of green and gold. Jaime?

“No, wrong twin but don’t worry, he’ll be here soon. Eat up,” Cersei mocked as she covered her hand with her sleeve and clamped it over Brienne’s mouth, forcing her to chew and swallow the rest of the apple. Despite her weakening strength, Brienne attempted to move her arms to push Cersei away until the world spun once more and turned black. As Brienne’s body collapsed to the floor, Cersei gave her an unsympathetic look before lazily slicing off the part of her sleeve that had come into contact with Brienne’s mouth and tossed it into the fire.

A pity.

That was her favourite dress. Yet another thing of hers that had been ruined by the beast. Cersei straightened the shawl over her shoulders and stood back behind the screen. She knew that Jaime always visited the beast around this time every evening. It wouldn’t be long now.

Jaime grinned to himself as he walked towards Brienne’s chamber. He was excited to see if she liked the shawl he had bought her. Jaime knew that it wasn’t much; if he could, he would give her all seven kingdoms; but it was a start. A small token of his affection and appreciation. The dark blue would complement her eyes and even if she doubted her appearance; he was certain that she would look beautiful in it. She looked beautiful in anything and he had been a damned fool to have ever thought otherwise.

“Brienne? Are you in?” Jaime called but received no answer. The door was slightly ajar as he pushed it open with his hand. Brienne hadn’t given him a response but he walked in anyway. Even if she was getting dressed or having a wash; that didn’t faze him. They had shared a bath together; they’d seen each other wash and dress and piss and shit throughout their journey. Privacy didn’t exist between them. It never really had.

“Brienne?” Jaime called again as he spotted her prone form lying on the floor. She was lying on her side, her arm outstretched with an apple just out of reach. She didn’t stir at the sound of his voice and he knew something was seriously wrong. Jaime rushed to her side and turned her onto her back. He could feel what felt like a very weak pulse under his fingers and the faintest flutter of her breath from her lips. He didn’t understand what was happening but he was certain that Brienne was dying. This couldn’t happen! Not to Brienne! He couldn’t lose her! She couldn’t die!

Panic overtook Jaime as he began to shake her shoulders. This wasn’t real. It was a dream; a nightmare. She would wake up and everything would be fine. “Brienne, wake up! Please wake up!”

“She won’t wake,” Cersei said as she emerged from behind the screen, idly playing with the Myrish lace in between her fingers. “Not yet.”

“Cersei, what did you do to her?” Jaime asked shakily as Cersei looked at him coldly. It was like he was finally seeing her, seeing the real her. Had she always been so cruel? So evil? It was like he was looking at a stranger, a stranger he had always known but refused to see.

“What did I do?” Cersei mocked as her expression darkened. “What did she do, Jaime? She turned you away from me, against me and against our children. She’s changed you, made you forget what’s really important.”

“Or maybe she helped me see the truth, what was really important.” Jaime retorted as he lifted her slightly, supporting her limp head and neck. “Cersei, tell me, what have you done? She can’t die, she’s committed no crimes, no treason, nothing that deserves this.”

“She has turned you against your queen; that is treason. She’s been poisoned; Qyburn is the cleverest man I know; he was able to create a poison so rare that the only thing that is rare is the cure.” Cersei explained.

“What’s the cure?” Jaime asked and Cersei sneered at him. It twisted her features into something demonic and evil; again he had to wonder if it had always been there.

“Come now Jaime, surely you can piece it together. The young maiden, whose beauty was known more than all others, the apple, laced with a rare poison with a rare cure. And you; the dashing knight, the hero, here to save the day.” Cersei mocked. “You’re not that stupid Jaime, put it together.”

And he did. It had been their favourite story as children. Cersei had a fondness for the idea of a mirror that could answer any truth. Tyrion had liked that there was at least one story where the dwarves were not treated like monsters and Jaime had liked the dashing prince who came riding in to save the day. In that story, the prince woke the sleeping maiden with…

“But Cersei that doesn’t exist! It’s just a child’s story!” Jaime argued and Cersei shrugged her shoulders dismissively.

“Well, then she’ll die. The poison will rot away her body from the inside; she’ll be unconscious for the whole thing so she shouldn’t feel too much pain. There is only one way for you to save her. If you truly love her, if you’ve betrayed me for her, then she will live. Do nothing or if you are loyal to me, then she’ll die. You have a choice Jaime, choose.” Cersei stated as Jaime’s mind raced.

Did he love Brienne? Of course he did. More than he had ever loved anyone. Yet that story ended with the prince and maiden living happily ever after. Such a thing did not exist in Westeros and it definitely would not exist if Brienne survived. If she could only survive through Jaime’s love; then unless there was a way to control Cersei’s madness or if they left the court and never returned, then there was a possibility. Although how did he know that this wasn’t just some cruel trick of Cersei’s? A way to draw out Brienne’s death and Jaime’s agony of having to watch her die?

As he tried to think of what to do, Jaime felt Brienne’s pulse again and to his horror, it seemed to have become even fainter than it had before. There was no other option, no more time. Brienne was dying and she would die if Jaime didn’t at least try to help her. All he could do, was try.

'I love you Brienne,' Jaime thought as he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.


End file.
